AIT FORMS STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP WITH ELBIT SYSTEMS / M7 TO OFFER NEW AEROSPACE COMPONENTS AND SERVICES OPERATIONS

Corporate capabilities augmented with facility expansions in Texas

PLANO, TX, - September 4, 2014 -  Advanced Integration Technology (AIT), a global industrial automation and tooling company delivering fully integrated plant floor systems to the aerospace industry, today announced its strategic partnership with Elbit Systems of America to assume responsibility of some of Elbit Systems of America’s M7 Aerospace manufacturing operations in San Antonio, Texas. Now called AIT Aerospace Components and Services, AIT’s newest location will continue to support Elbit Systems of America’s current and future business as well as outside AIT contracts.

Located at the San Antonio International Airport, AIT Aerospace Components and Services provides a full suite of services to the aerospace and aviation industries, including chemical processing, aerostructures manufacturing, complete assembly builds, and aircraft parts and product support.

“Forming this relationship with Elbit Systems of America/M7 and expanding our technical capabilities are consistent with AIT’s strategy to complete our value chain of offerings to the aerospace industry,” said AIT Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer Karl Williams. “We are excited to add a deep bench of talent to our existing team and will continue to deliver precision-engineered solutions that our customers have come to expect.”

Elbit Systems of America Senior Vice President Operations David Rogers commented, “The agreement with AIT will allow Elbit Systems of America to focus our San Antonio operations on the core business activities of providing exceptional contractor logistics support, aircraft modifications and upgrades and supporting the Metro/Merlin fleets of aircraft all over the world.  We look forward to a long and productive relationship with AIT.”

To support this business segment, AIT’s new facility boasts approximately 320,000 square feet divided in this way:  171,000 square feet for assembly, a 43,000-square-foot machine and subassembly shop, 25,500 square feet for sheet metal fabrication, a 57,000-square-foot warehouse as well as 22,500 square feet dedicated to chemical processing.

With this new operation, AIT is pursuing growth opportunities to provide its customers with even more vertically integrated solutions that complement its expertise in aerospace automation and tooling.

“AIT is the leader in aerospace integration, automation and tooling. Our vision to extend our reach beyond traditional market boundaries with this integrated services and technology approach advances the interests of our customers,” said AIT President and Chief Executive Officer Ed Chalupa. “Plus serving the emerging high-technology needs in our industry with this new venture aligns with our company’s core competencies and makes sense for our continued growth.”

Also this year, AIT opened a 100,000-square-foot operation in Grand Prairie, Texas, whose services are tailored to customer needs for program support, maintenance and development for commercial, business and military aircraft. This operation focuses on emergent and detail parts as well as local on-site support. Current program support in Grand Prairie includes Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey, Lockheed Martin F-35, Sikorsky Blackhawk, Northrop Grumman Global Hawk, Boeing 787 Dreamliner, Gulfstream G550 and Boeing C-17 Globemaster.

The AIT San Antonio location combined with its operations in Grand Prairie results in a robust manufacturing platform for a variety of technical solutions that redefine our market segment. All combined, AIT is well-resourced for continued growth and large program support with eight locations worldwide and an industrial footprint approaching 1 million square feet.

About AIT

Founded in 1992, AIT is a leading global aerospace services company that designs, manufactures and installs turnkey systems, tooling and equipment for the assembly of aerospace structures. Our business offering also includes manufacturing and repair of aircraft components as well as services support for some of the world’s prominent aerospace companies.